<p>Hello! I'm currently a highschool senior and wanted to know more about the Honors College at Pitt since I will be applying soon. I was wondering whether one has to take only Honors courses once he or she is accepted to the Honors College. Can a student choose to take non-Honors courses and if so how? Also, on that note, is it possible pursue a double-degree (I understand the degree for Honors Students is a B.Ph)?</p>
<p>Sorry if these questions sound stupid.
Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>The Honors College at Pitt is quite different than other honors colleges in my very limited experience. It was designed to be inclusive rather than exclusive. If you are initially accepted into honors, you may take as many honors classes as you are interested in or are offered by the university. Sometimes honors sections make more sense. They are designed for students who have particular interest in a subject rather than having all honors college students take all honors classes. </p>
<p>My daughter is an applied math major with an East Asian Studies certificate. She chose to take very few honors classes. However, a humanities or social sciences major might find more value in taking the honors sections.</p>
<p>Additionally, if you are not accepted initially to the honors college, you may appeal to take honors sections, and if your GPA is over 3.25 after your first semester, you may also request to take honors classes. Best wishes for a happy senior year.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Generally most students take between 1-3 UHC classes in a semester (if they take any). The most common UHC courses are: Chem, Bio, Calc, Physics, Neuro, Engineering, and a few others that I can’t remember if they are or aren’t Honors (like Orgo). There are humanities honors classes (History and perhaps English at the least) but they don’t get as big of an enrollment. There are also TONS of UHC electives that are very popular as well! Those tend to be Humanities.</p>
<p>So a UHC student can take no UHC classes or some UHC classes. Never take all UHC classes (I’m not sure if that is even possible). And know that UHC classes tend to exist at the lower levels (i.e. year 1 or 2 of a particular department, or electives). </p>
<p>The UHC degree is called a B.Phil (Bachelor’s of Philosophy). Very few people will pursue it because it involves extensive research leading to the writing and defensive of a thesis. You can pursue this if you would like, most people work on it during their junior or senior year at Pitt. It does take close to a full academic year to complete.</p>
<p>Here are the UHC course offerings for Fall:
[Upcoming</a> Course Offerings | Honors College | University of Pittsburgh](<a href=“http://www.honorscollege.pitt.edu/academics/courses/upcoming-course-offerings]Upcoming”>http://www.honorscollege.pitt.edu/academics/courses/upcoming-course-offerings)</p>